ABSTRACT
On the night of Wednesday, 28 June 1972, seventeen spectators attended the opening of the new film festival “Film International Rotterdam.” The sight of an all but empty theatre prompted the Councilor of Arts, De Vos, to depart without performing the official opening ceremony for the film week that had been described as “super experimental.” 1 This label was the consequence of the outspoken — and controversial — taste preferences of the founder of the festival, Huub Bals, who was also the co-founder of the Féderation Internationale des Festivals Indépendents that included the Quinzaine des Réalisateurs (Cannes) and the Forum des Jungen Films (Berlin). Although the festival’s consistent focus ever since its foundation has been on art cinema, experimental works, and southern developing film countries, the popularity of the festival has increased dramatically.
